New Orleans Mardi Gras 2014 festivities – in pictures

New Orleans Mardi Gras 2014 festivities – in pictures

In New Orleans, the first recorded Mardi Gras – French for Fat Tuesday – took place in 1699. Originally, festivities marked the beginning of Lent, but today this officially recognised holiday is synonymous with beads, krewes and king cake

Tue 4 Mar 2014 14.39 EST
Last modified on Fri 14 Jul 2017 18.31 EDT

A reveler parades through the French Quarter on Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 4. Photograph: Jonathan Bachman /Reuters

Actor Hugh Laurie looks out at the crowd as Bacchus 2014 during the Krewe of Bacchus Parade in New Orleans last Sunday. The city's Mardi Gras celebration culminates with Fat Tuesday. Photograph: Dan Anderson /EPA

Members of the Krewe of Zulu march during Fat Tuesday. The Zulu parade began on schedule, led by a New Orleans police vanguard on horseback that included Mayor Mitch Landrieu. The Zulu krewe’s 2014 Witch Doctor, Derek Rabb, said he was charged with praying for the krewe’s good health and good weather on Mardi Gras. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

The Krewe of Orpheus rolls uptown led by celebrity monarch Quentin Tarantino reigning over the superkrewe's 32-float parade. The float theme for 2014 was ‘Orpheus: The Enchanted World’. Photograph: The Times-Picayune /Landov/Bar

Our guest Instagram photographer Sophie T Lvoff is in the French Quarter for Mardi Gras today. The weather is horrible, but she said revelers are still taking to the streets in droves. For more Mardi Gras updates, follow #
GuardianCam on Instagram. Photograph: Sophie T Lvoff for The Guardian